Controlling device foe elevatoksj



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

HBGALE, CONTROLLING DEVIGBFOR ELEVATORS, 8w.

WITNESSES:

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

H.B.GALE. CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS,- &c. No. 598,416. Pate nted Feb. 1, 1898.

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ms uon'ms PETERS co, PHOTG-UTHO WASHINGTON n c STATES? PATENT rmcn.

A HORACE B. GALE, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS, 8w.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 598,416, dated February 1, 1898... Application filed February 8, 1896. $arial No. 578,591. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HORACE B. GALE, a citizen of the United States, residing atNew York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Controlling Devices for Elevators and Hoisting Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to devices for controlling the operation of those types of hoisting apparatus in which the movements of the load are produced byor dependent upon corresponding continuous relative movements of a cylinder, and a piston or plunger subjected to the pressure of a liquid, including hydraulic elevators, cranes, and thelike; and the improvements claimed are designed more especially for use in that class of hydraulic elevators in which the main working piston or plunger is propelled by the combined action of a liquid, as water, and an elastic fluid, such as steam or air. Such elevators, which have been distinguished, respectively, as hydrosteam and hydropneumatic elevators, are included herein under the title hydraulic elevators, which is used in this specification as a general designation for the class of elevators to which the improvements described are applicable.

The main object of my invention is to provide a new and simple form of controllingvalve designed to be operated with comparatively little resistance, which shall remain tight without packing and which shall act also as a check-valve to prevent accidental reverse movements of the elevator.

In the accompanying drawings, which constitute a part of this specification, Figures 1 and 2 each show a vertical section, and Fig.

3a horizontal section, of a main controllingvalve, the section planes being indicated by the lines 5 s. I Fig. 4is a view of the main valve removed from. the case. Fig. 5 is a section on-the line 5 s of Fig. 3, and Fig. 6 is a general diagram showing the essential mechanism of an elevator for high service and illustrating theconnection of the controlling devices therewith.

Similar characters indicate similar parts in all the views.

Referring to Fig. 6, A indicates the working cylinder, and B the plunger or piston-rod, which carries the sheaves K, around which and the fixed sheaves K are passed the ropes X, which support the car or platform 0. f

D indicates themain pipe or passage by which the water or other liquid enters and leaves the cylinder, E the controlling-valve in that passage, and F ahand-rope by which the valve is operated from the elevator-car.

G indicates a supply-pipe for the working fluid, H a discharge-pipe, and I an admission and exhaust valve by which the working fluid is admitted to and discharged from the outer portion of the passage D.

The valve I and the details of the mechanism for operating the valves from the elevator-car are not essential parts of the present invention, and they may be of any suitable types known ancl used in this art for similar purposes.

Fig. 6 represents an elevator in which an elastic fluid, such as compressed air or steam,

is supplied through the pipe G and valve I to press upon the surface of the water in the passage D,which is enlarged for this purpose at J,

so as to form a receiver of somewhat greater capacity than the working cylinder. This type of elevators is chosen for illustration because they are ordinarily more liable than other forms of hydraulic elevators to accidental reverse movements. To prevent such movements, various combinations of checkvalves have been devised and used heretofore, all of which require at least two independent check-valves acting in opposite ways.

Such a device,for example, is covered by United States Patent No. 510,638, granted to me December 12, 1893. I

The controlling-valve E, which is to be described, accomplishes-the same result as the earlier combinations referred to and is believed to possess certain advantages in uniting simplicity and cheapness of construction and ease ofoperation over any combination of valves heretofore employed for this purpose.

It may be explained here that simple stopvalves, which when opened permit the water to flow in either direction, either into or out of the. opeiatingcylinder, do not Work well on elevators of the class illustrated, which use an elastic, fluid to propel the water, for when the loaded car or platform O has been raised the receiver J remains filled with compressed air or steam, which will not instantly escape on the opening of the exhaust-valve I for the purpose of lowering the platform. Therefore unless a check-valve were provided in the passage D to prevent a flow of water in the wrong direction the platform in such a case would at first move upward for a short distance until the pressure in the outer end of the passage D was sufficiently reduced and would then begin to descend.

The construction of the con trolling-valve is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. The stopvalve portion of it consists, essentially, of a plug a, inclosed in the chamber or case-c and capable of closing the ports f and 9., which connect the chamber a with the main waterpassage D on each side. In the lower side of the'plug a is a port h, which in. Fig. 1 isclosedby the auxiliary check-valve b. The latter is a plain cylinder resting loosely on the edges of the port it, which are bored to fit it, and is capable of a slight free movement away from its seat, limited by the oval slotst' in the rings .7 which form part of the main valve a.

The plug a can be turned toward the right or left from the position shown in Fig. 1 by means of the spindle lo, which passes through a stuffing-box Z in the cylindrical head m and has a disk n attached to its inner end. The plug a is provided with two. projecting studs 19, which fit. loosely in the slot q in the faceof the disk '11. The. stop-valve a. and the check I) can he slipped out, of. the casing on removing the head 4. A fine saw-cut t is made through the top of the ringsj after the plug a hasbeen turned to fit the casing c, which gives the plug, sufficient. spring to. allow iltto enter easily.

The spindle k may be oscillated by an op.- erator in the elevator-car by means of a Wheel Y and ropes F and F, as shown in Fig. 6, or

. by other means known in the art.

When the. controlling-valve is closed, as in.

Fig. 1', the pressure of the water in the passage 7 in those figures, the cylindrical check-valve I) being pushed away from. its seat to the. extent permitted by the slots i; butany tend} ency of the water-to return will cause the: check-valve b to roll.downagainst.itsseatand close the passage. This allowsthe. platform O togo up if the. pressure intheouter portion of the passage. D is sufficientto raisev it, but

will not permit it to run down. should the. 1 pressure he toolow. If. the valve is. turned through an equal angle to the left from the matic means for closing the controlling-valve E, so as to stop the car at the upper and lower limits of its travel. 0 indicates a Wheel free to turn on an extension of the head 4% and provided with a projecting lug o, capable of engaging the lug x on the wheel Y. The lug f v carries wooden plugs to and w, which serve ,to. cushion its contact with the lug 0c.

The

l wheel 0 is connected by a cord P with the Wheel Q on the same shaft with the wheel R, between which and the wheel U is stretched a cord Z, carrying the lugs S. and-S.

When the car 0 approaches, for example,

Z the upper limit of its motion, the tappet T, i carried by the piston-rod B, strikes the lug i S, turning the wheel 0 by means of thecords Z and P until the lugo engages the lugsc and turns also the Wheel Y, thus closing thevalve and stopping the motion of the elevator.

When the car has reached the. limit th-usset ;for its upward movement, the controllingvalvev cannotbe opened by the hand-rope F of the. car downward is not at all. interfered 1 E. in a similar manner.. In this position the 1 valve. cannot be opened for afurther descent, 1 but may be: moved freely inthe direction re- 1 (wired for going up The limits of travel for the car can be set at any desired points by I adjusting the. lugs S. and S on the cord Z. The; lug'v is. extended beyond the rim of the wheel 0, forming a weight, which serves to return. the. wheel 0 to its mid-position as soon 1; as the. tappet T releases the lug- S or S.

The hand-rope F, as shown in- Fig. 6, is

looped around the movablesheavesN an-dM, Q whose axes are attached by the rope F to the wheel Y.

The latter is provided with a. second groove which carries. the cord L. for actuating the admission and eXhaustval-ve I.

. The hand-rope, is-alsoled around the sheaves y, y, and z, whose axes are carriedby the car 0,, and its two. endsv are carried up and united to a single. rope F, which passes over aconvenient point in the car, or, ifpreferred,

3 theropemay be shiftedby turn-ingthe Wheel 2.

The diagram shows; the relative positions of'the. parts when the elevator is going up,

the arrows, indicatin g the direction of motion of all the moving partsof the apparatus. It

will be' observed that the parts of the hand pecially in high-speed elevators, for the fol lowingreasons: First, because the manipulation of the hand-rope is not interfered with by any relative motions between it and the car; second, because the use .of the sheaves N and M gives a double purchase on the rope F, making the movement of the valve easier; third, because neither the stretching of the ropes nor the movement of the car has any tendency to displace the valve E, and, fourth, because the hand-rope F cannot be manipulated so as to interfere with the automatic closing of the valve at the extreme limits of the cars travel. The latter point may be explained as follows: The connections between the stops S and S and the valve E are posi-v tive and unyielding whenever the lug v has been brought in contact with the lug so; but

the handle a on the hand-rope F controls only one-half of each of the loops supporting .the sheaves N and M, the inner part of each loop being supported by the rope F and the weight W. Consequently if the sheave N, forexample, is drawn down by the action of the limit-stop in closing the valve, while the handle a is held, the effect is to slightly raise the weight WV. As soon as the restraining force is removed the weight W will draw the handle a back to its middle position. This arrangement of the hand-ropes, in combination with the design of the automatic stopmotion, thus permits the limit-stop to be applied to the main controlling-valve E with the same degree of safety and independence in operation as is attained in other constructions by the use of a separate valve for that purpose.

Although the use of the special controllingvalve E or an equivalent combination of check-valves for preventing accidental reverse movements of the car is more especially required in elevators and other hoisting apparatus employing an elastic working fluid in the manner described, the use of this valve is not restricted to such cases and frequently it may be employed with advantage in hydraulic elevators worked entirely by water from tanks, service-pipes, or the like, especially in freight-elevators, which are liable to troublesome reverse movements when the attempt is made to start them upward under an excessive load or with insufficient Working pressure. The arrangement and operation of all the valves shown in Fig. 6 may remain the same whatever working fluid is supplied through the pipe G; but when Wateralone is used the enlarged receiver J is omitted.

It is evident that the plug a instead of being made perfectly cylindrical may, if preferred, be made slightly conical or tapering and fitted to a correspondingly-tapered bore in the casing c. When the plug a is tapered, the lengthwise saw-cut t is omitted.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a controlling device for a hydraulic elevator, the combination of a cylindricalfaced check-valve in a passage by which the liquid enters and leaves one end of the working cylinder, a movable valve-seat fitting the cylindrical face of the valve, and means controllable by hand from the elevator-car for shifting the position of the said valve-seat whereby the valve may be'set at will to open in either direction relative to the said passage, so as to permit a movement of the car in either direction desired by the operator and to prevent any movement in a contrary direction, substantially as described.

2. In a hydraulic elevator or hoisting ap paratus, the combination with the working cylinder of a controlling device in a passage by which the liquid enters and leaves the same, comprising an oscillating stop-valve, capable of closing the passage, and an auxiliary rolling, cylindrical check-valve, fitting a port in the said stop-valve, and adapted to permit a flow either into or out of the Working cylinder as determined by the adjustment of the said stop-valve, substantially as set.

forth. 7

3. A controlling device for a hydraulic elevator or hoisting apparatus, comprisinga rotatable plug, capable of positively closing a passage communicating with the working cylinder, and an auxiliary rolling, cylindrical check-valve, adapted to close a port in the said plug, and opening to permit the passage of liquid in either direction through the passage, as determined by the position of the said plug.

4. In a controlling device for a hydraulic elevator or hoisting apparatus, the combination of an oscillating stop-valve in a passage by which liquid enters and leaves the working cylinder, and a rolling cylindrical checkvalve adapted to close a port in the said stopvalve, and reversible in operation by the movement of the latter, substantially as set forth. i

' 5. In a hydraulic elevator or hoisting apparatus, operated by the combined action of a liquid and an elastic fluid, the combination IIO Y of a main hydraulic working cylinder, an os-' cillatin g stop-valve in a passage by which the liquid enters and leaves the same, an auxiliary'rolling cylindrical check-valve fitting a port in the said stop-valve, and reversible in operation by the movement of the latter, a separate valve mechanism controlling the admission and exhaust of the elastic fluid, and an operating device controlling both the said separate valve mechanism and the said oscillating stop-valve, substantially as set forth. 6. A combined hand and automatic controlling device for a hydraulic elevator, comprising a reversible stop and check valve in a passage by which the liquid enters and leaves one end of the Working cylinder, a

traveling rope looped around sheaves oper-- ther passage of the liquid in the same direction, independently of any movement of the hand-rope, Without interfering with the free opening of the said valve by the hand-rope to permit a flow of liquid in the reversed di rection, all substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two Witnesses. I

HORACE B. GALE.

Witnesses:

F. R. HUTTON, FRANCIS W. HOADLEY. 

